Steinhoff has crashed the party on another deal by lining up a rival bid by Conforama for UK-listed electricals retailer Darty.
A French subsidiary of global retail giant Steinhoff, Conforama, has made a “non-binding conditional proposal” to acquire Darty at 125p per share in cash.
French retailer Fnac made a formal offer for the group in November.
Darty said it is “currently reviewing the proposal received from Conforama”. It added: “There can be no certainty that any firm offer will be made by Conforama.”
Steinhoff’s move marks its second intervention in M&A in the space of a few weeks after revealing its intention to table a rival bid for Argos-owner Home Retail.
Furniture and household specialist Steinhoff, whose biggest shareholder is South African billionaire Christo Wiese, has more than 6,500 stores in 30 countries. In the UK it owns Harveys and Bensons for Beds.
Steinhoff acquired Conforama from France’s PPR group for €1.2bn in 2011. Conforama last year recorded sales of €3.2bn.
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